COURSE RESOURCES Here you'll find a growing list of online resources to help you learn and master calculus. Feel free to contribute any you find, as well!
Probably the most useful for doing 'book problems' in this class, CalcChat offers solutions (and full explanations) for odd-numbered problems. Very helpful in figuring out techniques, especially for those pesky even-numbered problems!
Another helpful site, Calculus Help offers plenty of great resources when you're stumped.
Want to make a cool "screencast" (a video of what you do on your screen)? Check out either of these two to make fun and useful videos:
Jing-- a free (for the basic version) piece of software by TechSmith (the people who make SnagIt and Camtasia) for capturing still images or video with audio from your computer. (See example below.)
Screencast-o-matic.com-- a completely free, web-based application that you can use without logging in or installing anything! Very easy to use even on anonymous campus computers! (See example below.)
"Cheat" sheet for Algebra and Trigonometry -- two topics that most folks can always use some brushing up on!
Another "cheat" sheet for Geometric Figures.
Virtual TI -- Ever want to have access to your TI calculator on your computer (PC-only)? If so, this is for you.
Wolfram Alpha -- I mentioned this in class and on the syllabus, but it's really worth checking out. It's like Google for quantified information (e.g., dates, money, measurements, equations, calculations, etc.). Try typing in an equation and see what it does! Also worth checking out -- this video presentation of "Wolfram Alpha In a Nutshell."
YouTube videos -- This link will take you to the YouTube channel that my wife (a JCC math/statistics professor) set up to provide tutorial help for her students. Most of the material is probably not terribly useful for you right now, but there may be some things (e.g., calculator use) you will find useful. More generally, you can likely find some very helpful videos on YouTube by other calculus instructors and students (here's an example) -- if anyone is interested in having me make some, I'd love to hear the suggestion.
Interactive Mathematics -- A really nice, really free treasure trove of useful explanations and helpful applications across many different themes in mathematics. They have some particularly useful Calculus applications that let you play around with theorems and test them out. You'll need to download the free LiveMath viewer in order to use the apps (they'll walk you through that process).
Geometer's Sketchpad -- This program, which you can download a free trial of at the site, is a terrific way to construct interactive diagrams that "come alive" as you grab, drag, input, and otherwise changes aspects of them. A great way to model calculus problems!
New York Times Opinionator Blog -- Since first writing some guest-appearance articles for the online NYT, Steven Strogatz (Professor of Applied Mathematics at Cornell University) has contributed a terrific series of pieces aimed at explaining mathematics in (relatively) everyday terms. They're worth the time to read -- especially those related to calculus -- and I've found them to be quite effective for spurring on conversation with students, friends, and family.
Calculus RhapsodyI -- One of my favorite mathematics-themed musical videos (yeah, there are enough that I have favorites), made by some crafty calculus students as a synopsis of their experiences in a first-year class.
INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES:
Here's a collection of instructional links that are of interest those who wish to teach calculus. They are purposely broad in scope, so as to allow for a diversity of approaches and instructional techniques. To be honest, these links are probably not terribly useful for students, as they are geared toward more organizational and pedagogical approaches to calculus (i.e., what to teach and how to approach it).
Jim Anderson, a colleague at the University of Toledo, put together a terrific amount of animations in his calculus notes based on the computer programming language, Maple.
Here you'll find a growing list of online resources to help you learn and master calculus. Feel free to contribute any you find, as well!
Probably the most useful for doing 'book problems' in this class, CalcChat offers solutions (and full explanations) for odd-numbered problems. Very helpful in figuring out techniques, especially for those pesky even-numbered problems!
Another helpful site, Calculus Help offers plenty of great resources when you're stumped.
Want to make a cool "screencast" (a video of what you do on your screen)? Check out either of these two to make fun and useful videos:
"Cheat" sheet for Algebra and Trigonometry -- two topics that most folks can always use some brushing up on!
Another "cheat" sheet for Geometric Figures.
Interactive solutions to the odd-numbered textbook questions -- same as in the back of the book, only easy to search!
Virtual TI -- Ever want to have access to your TI calculator on your computer (PC-only)? If so, this is for you.
Wolfram Alpha -- I mentioned this in class and on the syllabus, but it's really worth checking out. It's like Google for quantified information (e.g., dates, money, measurements, equations, calculations, etc.). Try typing in an equation and see what it does! Also worth checking out -- this video presentation of "Wolfram Alpha In a Nutshell."
YouTube videos -- This link will take you to the YouTube channel that my wife (a JCC math/statistics professor) set up to provide tutorial help for her students. Most of the material is probably not terribly useful for you right now, but there may be some things (e.g., calculator use) you will find useful. More generally, you can likely find some very helpful videos on YouTube by other calculus instructors and students (here's an example) -- if anyone is interested in having me make some, I'd love to hear the suggestion.
Interactive Mathematics -- A really nice, really free treasure trove of useful explanations and helpful applications across many different themes in mathematics. They have some particularly useful Calculus applications that let you play around with theorems and test them out. You'll need to download the free LiveMath viewer in order to use the apps (they'll walk you through that process).
Geometer's Sketchpad -- This program, which you can download a free trial of at the site, is a terrific way to construct interactive diagrams that "come alive" as you grab, drag, input, and otherwise changes aspects of them. A great way to model calculus problems!
New York Times Opinionator Blog -- Since first writing some guest-appearance articles for the online NYT, Steven Strogatz (Professor of Applied Mathematics at Cornell University) has contributed a terrific series of pieces aimed at explaining mathematics in (relatively) everyday terms. They're worth the time to read -- especially those related to calculus -- and I've found them to be quite effective for spurring on conversation with students, friends, and family.
Calculus RhapsodyI -- One of my favorite mathematics-themed musical videos (yeah, there are enough that I have favorites), made by some crafty calculus students as a synopsis of their experiences in a first-year class.
INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES:
Here's a collection of instructional links that are of interest those who wish to teach calculus. They are purposely broad in scope, so as to allow for a diversity of approaches and instructional techniques. To be honest, these links are probably not terribly useful for students, as they are geared toward more organizational and pedagogical approaches to calculus (i.e., what to teach and how to approach it).